Hollywood starlet Jane Russell dies aged 89

London: Former Hollywood actress and sex symbol Jane Russell died on Monday at her home in California of a respiratory-related illness. She was 89.

The news was confirmed by her daughter-in-law, reports a news daily. "She always said I’m going to die in the saddle, I’m not going to sit at home and become an old woman. And that’s exactly what she did, she died in the saddle," Etta Waterfield said, recounting that Russell had remained active in her local community until illness intervened in recent weeks. Russell was discovered by eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes, who cast her in his 1941 Western The Outlaw. Some of her most memorable parts include the The Paleface (1948) with Bob Hope and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) with Marilyn Monroe. Russell married three times and adopted three children. ANI